Chair book box and connector accessory



March 17, 1964 F. G. ROSE CHAIR BOOK BOX AND couuzc'roa ACCESSORY Filed May 14, 1963 m m E V W.

Fred 6'. .Ro-se WWW ATTORNEY WITNESS film/u S. Q/wunvKI/u United States Patent M 3,125,372 CHAIR BOOK BOX AND CONNECTGR ACCESSURY Fred G. Rose, Grand Rapids, Mich, assignor to American Seating Company, Grand Rapids, Mich a corporation of New Jersey Filed May 14, 1963, Ser. No. 280,348 2 Claims. (Cl. 297188) The present invention relates to chairs.

Certain types of chairs, and particularly folding and stacking chairs, are often ganged together by means of clamps to form rows of seating whereby open areas such as ballroorns and gymnasiumscan quickly be converted into auditoriums. Frequently too, such chairs are provided with some type of bookrack or box for holding various kinds of books, papers and other materials, for example hymnals and prayer books when the hall is used for religious services, and school books when used as a classroom.

The primary Object of this invention is to provide a unitary accessory which serves the dual purpose of clamping chairs together in rows and providing a bookrack or box between each pair of adjacent chairs.

An illustrative embodiment of the invention is shown in the accompanying drawing, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a fragmentary perspective View showing three folding chairs ganged together and provided with bookracks by means of accessories made according to the present invention;

FIGURE 2 is a top plan view of one of the accessories per se; and

FIGURE 3 is a vertical sectional view thereof taken on line 33 of FIGURE 2.

Referring now in detail to this drawing, the folding chairs shown in FIGURE 1 are of the inverted-Y type, each chair having a front frame bent to provide front legs and an upper bight portion 11 in which is mounted a chair back 12, rear legs 13 having their upper ends hingedly connected at 14 to the front legs 10, and a chair seat 15. Each pair of front and rear legs is downwardly divergent when the chair is in its unfolded condition for use, as shown.

The new accessory comprises an upwardly opening sheet metal box 16 of rectangular parallelepiped form. To each of the opposite side walls 17 of the box 16 is secured as by welding a pair of channel brackets. The front channel bracket 18 and rear channel bracket 19 of each pair are secured to the box in downwardly divergent disposition conforming to the downwardly divergence of the front and rear legs of the unfolded chairs. The front channel brackets 18 open rearwardly-downwardly while the rear channel brackets 19 open forwardly-downwardly. The pair of channel brackets on one side of each box 16 is thus detachably engageable with a front and rear pair of legs of one chair, and the pair of channel brackets on the other side of the box are thus detachably engageable 3,125,372 Patented Mar. 17, 1964 with a front and rear pair of legs of another chair. The two chairs are thus clamped together in side-by-side relation with the upwardly opening box 16 supported therebetween.

It will thus be seen that the invention provides a convenient accessory whereby chairs may quickly and easily be ganged together to form rows of chairs having boxes or bookracks between the pairs of adjacent chairs, and while but one specific embodiment of the invention has been herein shown and described it will be understood that numerous details thereof may be altered or omitted without departing from the spirit of the invention as defined by the following claims.

I claim:

1. A combination book box and chair-connecting accessory for chairs which have at opposite sides thereof pairs of divergent front and rear legs, said accessory comprising: an upwardly opening box of rectangular parallelepiped form; pairs of elongated brackets mounted on opposite sides of said box in divergent disposition conforming to the divergence of said front and rear chair legs, the pair of brackets on one side of said box being detachably engageable with a front and rear pair of legs of one chair and the pair of brackets on the other side of said box being detachably engageable with a front and rear pair of legs of another chair, whereby said chairs are clamped together in side-by-side relation with said upwardly opening box supported therebetween.

2. A combination book box and chair-connecting accessory for chairs which have at opposite sides thereof pairs of downwardly divergent front and rear legs, said accessory comprising: an upwardly opening box of rectangular parallelepiped form; pairs of elongated channel brackets mounted on opposite sides of said box in downwardly divergent disposition conforming to the downward divergence of said front and rear chair legs, said front channel brackets opening rearwardly-downwardly and said rear channel brackets opening forwardly-downwardly, the pair of channel brackets on one side of said box being thus detachably engageable with a front and rear pair of legs of one chair and the pair of channel brackets on the other side of said box being thus detachably engageable with a front and rear pair of legs of another chair, whereby said chairs are clamped together in sideby-slde relation with said upwardly opening box supported therebetween.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 686,914 Stark Nov. 19, 1901 960,703 Ramsden June 7, 1910 2,184,173 Bargen Dec. 19, 1939 2,925,123 Morgan Feb. 16, 1960 2,979,120 Amburn Apr. 11, 1961 3,018,131 Krueger Jan. 23, 1962 3,048,441 Rose Aug. 7, 1962 

1. A COMBINATION BOOK BOX AND CHAIR-CONNECTING ACCESSORY FOR CHAIRS WHICH HAVE AT OPPOSITE SIDES THEREOF PAIRS OF DIVERGENT FRONT AND REAR LEGS, SAID ACCESSORY COMPRISING: AN UPWARDLY OPENING BOX OF RECTANGULAR PARALLELEPIPED FORM; PAIRS OF ELONGATED BRACKETS MOUNTED ON OPPOSITE SIDES OF SAID BOX IN DIVERGENT DISPOSITION CONFORMING TO THE DIVERGENCE OF SAID FRONT AND REAR CHAIR LEGS, THE PAIR OF BRACKETS ON ONE SIDE OF SAID BOX BEING DETACHABLY ENGAGEABLE WITH A FRONT AND REAR PAIR OF LEGS OF ONE CHAIR AND THE PAIR OF BRACKETS ON THE OTHER SIDE OF SAID BOX BEING DETACHABLY ENGAGEABLE WITH A FRONT AND REAR PAIR OF LEGS OF ANOTHER CHAIR, WHEREBY SAID CHAIRS ARE CLAMPED TOGETHER IN SIDE-BY-SIDE RELATION WITH SAID UPWARDLY OPENING BOX SUPPORTED THEREBETWEEN. 